Senior organizes 5K
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lydia Simms
Simms, above left, combined her interests in neonatal health and running for her senior project. Working in the Frasier Center has increased her love of children.
January 25, 2012 • Colleen Suratt, Carpe Diem staff
Filed under Student Life, Top Stories
Attention runners: mark your calendars. On March 17, the City of Decatur will host a 5K.
For her senior project, Lydia Simms is organizing a 5K race. “The ‘Run with the Dogs’ was my inspiration,” Simms, 17, said. “I saw that the Booster Club raised a lot of money through their annual 5K, so I wanted to do the same.”
But Simms’ 5K will support a different cause – she will donate all profits to the March of Dimes Foundation, an organization that aids premature babies. A premature baby herself, Simms’ has made the March of Dimes her cause. “I want to be an obstetrician. A lot of people in my family were premature, and I work at the Frasier Center, so babies are a big part of my life,” Simms said. “I guess I wanted to support a cause that I felt passionate about.”
Simms’ project combines two of her passions – Simms is also a runner. “I decided to do a 5K because I have a strong passion for running,” she said. “Last year, Ben Provential ran a marathon, and I knew that I wouldn’t have time to train for a marathon, so I thought organizing a 5K would be just as difficult, but in a different sense.”
The senior project is meant to challenge seniors. In Simms’ circumstances, she’ll have to single-handedly organize every aspect of the race. “I had to get a run/walk permit from the City of Decatur, I had to pay a couple fees and I had to talk to a bunch of publicists, for the Decatur Patch and for the AJC, just to get the word out.” Currently, Simms is requesting food donations from local grocery stores and working on recruiting volunteers from the high school to help on the day of the race.
The most challenging part of the process was finding a date to host the race. “I had to jump through a bunch of hoops to get the date I wanted – I wanted it to be in March, because that’s the national month for premature babies, and my proceeds will go to the March of Dimes,” Simms said.
Hopefully, all of Simms’ hard work will pay off. She aims to have at least 200 participants in the race. “Anyone can run or walk in it,” she said. “I really want kids to run it, too, because it’s for kids, for premature babies.”
Though participation in the race is free, Simms is requesting that all participants donate $15 to benefit the March of Dimes Foundation. “I don’t want to just donate $50 to [the March of Dimes Foundation],” Simms said. “I would love to see my 5K get really big and popular and raise a lot of money … and I really think it will.”
The race begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 17, by the Agnes Scott track. To register, email Lydia Simms at lydia.simms@gmail.com
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